City Of The Damned
by gleepottergreenday
Summary: Kurt Hummel lost everything on that tragic night. Now 5 years later, he tells the story of how he survived the deadliest virus to sweep the USA. Based on the film 28 Days Later, Panic at Rock Island and the Walking Dead. AU.
1. 5 Years On

**City Of The Damned Chapter 1**

Novemeber 19th 2011. That was the day my life came to an abrupt stand still. The day when I lost everything that ever meant anything to me. The day when I was left alone, broken.

Of course, I wasn't the only poor soul whose life was shattered in the space of a week. There were the odd few survivors who were left to wander the ruins of America. Some people would call us lucky, but to me, we must be the most ill fated people anyone could know. Sure, we survived; we were part of the countries history and would always be remembered, but what for? We didn't do anything but watch those innocent people lose their lives so tragically, and for that I permanently feel the guilt eating away at me day in and day out.

There was a population of roughly 307,006,550 citizens in the USA at the beginning of the year. Now, there's less than 5 % left.

Anthony Clarke made the biggest mistake he could of ever made on the evening of March 20th 2011. How was he to know that pressing that tiny button would release the deadliest super virus the world had ever seen? How was he to know that his fellow workers would panic and open the secure doors containing the toxic gas, then run for their lives into the night. To this day I'm still unsure which of the contaminated men was the one to spread the virus but the story goes that one panic struck man fell into a cardiac arrest and was given the kiss of life by a cursed passer by. Little did that stranger know what would become of his generous act of help.

It took roughly 48 hours for the virus to travel from New York to Ohio, and less than that to make it's way from state to state, killing everyone that stood in its way. I think it was about 7 days and the whole country was destroyed.

It became too late to evacuate and even when the states tried to, there would be a person who had come into contact with the virus and it would start over again.

I remember that night so well. Just like it all happened yesterday, even though it's been years and my life has almost gone back to normal. Although it will never be the same as before, never.

It's been a whole 5 years and I've not been able to tell anyone the horrid story that I carry. But now I think I'm ready to share with the world how I survived the biggest disaster to ever happen.

My name is Kurt Hummel, and this is my story of survival.

**Authors Note **

_**Hey! I'd really appreciate it if you could review and maybe tell me if you want me to carry this story on :D I have loads od great content coming up I promise!**_


	2. Mild Curiosity

It was a completely ordinary day when it all started. There was no reason for any of us to suspect that our lives were going to change forever. For the first time in a long while, things were going great in my life. I had just started my senior year at William McKinley High School and my boyfriend, Blaine, had vowed to make sure that my last year at school before I graduate, was perfect. He even went as far as transferring from his highly expensive private school to my shabby one just so that we could be together and experience our last year in school together. Sometimes though, I find myself wondering if he really did transfer just for my sake. Just like me he got bullied when he went to a public school but decided to run away from his troubles to a school which had a no-bullying policy. Although I did transfer, I went back and faced my bullies and now I sometimes think that he only transferred to the hell-hole that you could call McKinley just to face his demons. Maybe I've just had too much time to overthink the short life I had in Ohio. It does that to you, loneliness.

But he was with me, I was happy and the New Directions, which were my school's 'loser' glee club, were preparing for their performance at sectionals at the Annual Show Choir Competition. The rest of the New Directions and me had spent the last 2 years trying, and failing might I add, to get through the final stage of the competition but has yet to do so. For the majority of us, this was out last chance to win and that meant we were all willing to put in the work and hours, no matter how exhausting it was! Not only having to put in even more effort to make out performance perfect, exams were coming up and they determined whether we would graduate or not and not graduating for me was not feasible option. It seemed like a dream to get some time off and I was counting the days to go until we had the short few days off for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. I dreamed of a lot of things at the time. Dreamed about the future mostly. I was going to be a star you see. A household name and an inspiration to all those kids who were getting bullied. It's funny how I got that dream in the end. Kind of. People look up to me now alright, as one of the poor kids who survived and battled on. Not exactly what I was going for.

I'd just walked into the choir room to start our rehearsal only to walk into what seemed a full on discussion in process. Rachel, one of my closest friends, was holding a newspaper in her hand, looking slightly unsettled.

'I'm just saying, this freaky flu that they are going on about has come at such a bad time! Apparently the some of the first cases has been diagnosed in Lima so we all better be careful what we touch. We can't afford to get ill at a time like this guys, sectionals is only around the corner and it is just so unreasonable if one of you catch it and put our chances of winning at risk!' she stressed to the group. That was typical of Rachel, to put her own glory before the dying nation.

With mild curiosity I walked over and took the newspaper from Rachel and started to read the article. I couldn't tell you what the article said word for word now, it's been too long and the memory has been distorted by later events but it was something along the lines of the flu getting worse, it even showed a map with the affected areas pin pointed on it if I remember correctly. To me though, it seemed as if something was missing, as though whoever wrote this was purposely missing something out. Like it was censored. It didn't really go into detail of what the flu was or what to look out for, it only mentioned the obvious precautions to take. You know wash your hands, get the latest flu vaccine, stuff like that really.

For some reason though, I kept re-reading this article. I don't know why but the more I read it the more anxious I felt. It didn't seem right. There was always the flu going around at this time of year, but the wide coverage of this flu and the weird sense that we weren't being told everything really hit me. Never had flu been so bad that it had made front page of every newspaper in Lima. It wasn't till I felt Blaine's hand on my shoulder that I realised I had zoned out whilst looking at the article.

"It's strange, right? What do you think about it?" He murmured quietly to me. I turned to look at him; he too looked unsettled by the paper.

"It seems too freaky for my liking Blaine. Look," I replied, pointing to the map, "never before have the tracked where a simple flu was. They don't even tell you any symptoms to look out for, it's like they don't want us to know."

"I don't like it either, how are we supposed to look out for it if we don't even know what we're looking out for?"

'Well hopefully none of us gets it. Rachel would probably still drag us to rehearsal and we would all get this mystery flu in the end!' I joked, rolling my eyes. Neither of us smiled though.

"In all honesty though Kurt, at least one of us will probably catch it. I mean this is a school where we are always in contact with people! How many student and teachers are there here altogether? I'd say at least about 1500 in total. It's not a small school. Someone is bound to have it."

This thought had already crossed my mind but when Blaine said it, it scared me. This virus was bad, someone in the school was going to have it, no doubt about it and it was going to be spread eventually. But instead of expressing my sudden panic, I replied,

"Well I'm just gonna be careful until it all passes over. You know, make sure I actually properly wash my hands and stuff, and not just rinse them over"

"Same here. I don't normally get ill anyway but when I do it's like I'm dying, no lie." Blaine laughed and grabbed my hand. It was on that note that Mr Schue entered the choir room and wrote on the white board the topic we would be singing about that week and that was it. The tense conversation was over and we went back to our normal lives.

The rest of the day passed out uneventfully and the flu didn't even cross my mind any more that afternoon. What I was doing that afternoon isn't really important enough to mention here. I went to my last class of the day then went home with my step-brother Finn and started to make dinner with Carole, my dad's wife. Like every day, my dad came home, we all sat around the table and ate and discussed our now. Just another boring evening in the Hudson-Hummel household.

I was just heading to bed when I heard it. The sound of pained vomiting. I automatically rushed down the hall in the direction the sound was coming from and burst into the bathroom to see Finn crouching over the toilet, gagging.

"Finn!" I shouted, skidding to his side and patting his back. Once he had finished bringing up his dinner from that night he turned to look at me. God, did he look a mess. He was so pale and clammy. Eyes bloodshot, body shaking. He didn't look okay one bit.

"It's fine Kurt," he gasped, "Maybe I've just eaten something funny, don't worry. I might even be coming from with the flu or something; I've been feeling a bit funny for a couple of days. It'll be fine."

I felt my blood run cold with his words. The Flu. What sort of flu? The normal flu or the mystery flu that has just reached Lima? I tried to put this thought behind me and helped him clean up and after a while his colour came back and he stopped shaking. His legs were steady when he got up and he insisted he didn't need my help to get back to his bedroom. I followed him all the same just to make sure and sure enough he made it back fine. Maybe he had just taken a funny turn and I had jumped to the conclusion that he had that flu because he seemed fine when he slammed the door in my face and told me to stop bothering him.

As I lay in bed that night I was restless. I couldn't settle and was becoming more and more agitated. This feeling was heightened when I heard the unmistaken sound of wet coughing coming from Finn's room next door and then his footsteps running to the bathroom to vomit once again.

Realising sleep was impossible. I stumbled over to my computer and searched this virus. Not much came up but I was able to find a website outlining the first symptoms of the flu. The main ones being fever, sickness and coughing. All of which Finn had.

**Please review! I'm sorry its been lie a year since i wrote the first chapter, i completely lost inspiration and dont know whether to carry this on. Please let me know :) **


	3. Unanswered Prayers

After a sleepless night, I was so worried about Finn that I wasn't even paying attention to my daily moisturising routine, which meant that something was seriously bothering me. My brother's sick face kept flashing before my eyes. I couldn't help it, I'd even called Blaine at half 2 in the morning in a panicked frenzy. He didn't mind at all though, I'm not even certain that I woke him, he seemed much too alert to have just woken up. Maybe the flu was on his mind too. Blaine being Blaine, he put my worries before his and tried to reassure me that I was just overthinking things. So that's what I kept telling myself. I've just made too much of the situation, it was just a dodgy chicken breast from last night's dinner that made him sick and he was probably just coming down with the common cold that my dad had a couple of weeks ago. It still didn't take my mind off the worst case scenario but it gave me the slightest bit of hope that things weren't as bad as I thought.

To my relief, when I carried myself downstairs for breakfast that morning Finn was already up and at the table looking a whole lot better than he did the night before. In fact, if I hadn't known of his sickness, I wouldn't have suspected there was anything wrong with him. That's when the logic clicked in my mind. Blaine was right! I have just over thought what was going on before that damned flu was all over the news. _If he had this freaky flu he would be getting constantly worse, right? He's better than he was, that's not how the flu works. _My mind kept whispering this to itself and to be honest, I made myself believe it. I still had a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach, it did feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

So, blindly I carried on with my day. I went to school as normal, went to my lessons, went to glee club, and went for a coffee with Blaine, just one more boring day. No-one said anything about the virus all day. Maybe they had just forgotten about it or were too wrapped up in their own personal problems. It was still there in the back of my mind but when people weren't talking about it, it stayed repressed back there. It was only when the evening news came on that night when yet again my frantic thoughts were reinforced. _Breaking News- travel restrictions from state to state announced, first cases of the flu have been diagnosed in Washington D.C; the president has been evacuated to a 'non-infected' state, stay indoors if you show even the slightest signs of the flu like a runny nose. _It became clear from that news broadcast that this was far from the normal strain of flu. What the hell was going on? I don't know how but I just knew that some people had died due to the flu. I suppose I read between the lines, but I just knew. Finn had developed a chesty cough throughout the day and Carole and my dad had to become concerned about his health. His mom sent him to rest straight away, even though he caused a scene because he didn't want to. She was worried herself, not only because her son was coming down with something but because she and my dad were supposed to be going away in the morning for a romantic weekend. They had spent their honeymoon money on transferring me to private school when the bullying at McKinley got really bad and I felt so bad that I saved up money for them to go on a few little weekends away now and again so they could have some time to themselves.

With the strong insistence of Finn and me, we managed to convince them to still go away for a couple of days. My real purpose of this was to help myself though. If they stayed in Ohio, it would emphasise the fact that something was wrong and I hoped that by carrying on normally everything would turn out okay. It's quite high up on my list of the worst things that I did during these years since virus struck, but no way is it the top. Nothing can beat what I did later on. Nothing.

So they left early in the morning and it was just me and Finn left in the house. Blaine and Rachel were coming over later on in the day, and Finn was going to ask one of his closest friends Puck if he wanted to come over and play some video games with him because he was bored. I hadn't really seen Finn much that morning, he was shut up in his room for most of it and it was only when he didn't answer me when I shouted up to him asking if he wanted anything to eat that I went to see what he was doing. He wasn't in his bedroom when I went upstairs and whilst wandering down the hall I was once again put on edge when I heard a groan and the sound of a toilet lid banging against the back to a toilet. There Finn was again, just like the night before, vomiting his guts out in the bathroom.

"Kurt?" I heard Finn gasp in almost a whisper.

"Oh god Finn. I thought you were getting better? Here, let me help you." I held out a wad of tissue paper, the panic evident in my voice.

When he turned to look at me, he was definitely worse than before. He was so pale and a slight layer of sweat clung to his face and his t-shirt. I could tell he was cold though. His body was trembling and I could almost hear his teeth chattering.

"You look terrible! Come on, I'll help you get to bed." I put an arm around his waist and tried, unsuccessfully may I add, to haul him up. My voice was casual but inside my mind jumped back to the goddamned flu and the freaky news reports that were getting more intense by the day.

"Stop mothering me Kurt!" Finn snapped back at me, "I can handle it, okay? I'm just really tired."

With that he took off stumbling down the hallway into his bedroom. The doorbell rung then. Just like a movie when something really bad has happened and you're really scared and panicking then the bell or the phone rings and you jump a mile. Yeah, that's what happened. It was only Blaine, Rachel and Puck though. I made them all aware of the situation with Finn and just like me they were all worried. Puck still stayed the afternoon even though the reason he came around, to play videogames with Finn, wasn't going to happen. Instead he sat in my room and irritated us until I felt like throwing him out of my house. I kind of felt safe with Puck there for some reason. He was never scared, he was as hard as a rock and that made me feel better.

The afternoon dragged for what seemed like forever and nothing eventful happened. I had gone to check on Finn numerous times and he was soundly sleeping which was reassuring. I prayed he would be better when he woke up.

No-one answered my prayers though. Oh no, when he woke he was far from okay. The others were downstairs in the kitchen getting some snacks while I went to check on Finn and give him some water and food. Finn was groggy when I got to him, but awake all the less and thanked me for drink. It was when I turned to the door, making my way out when the nightmare began. I will never forget the noise I heard till my dying days. It was like the noise that someone makes when they vomit but it was much wetter and I could hear the fear in it. I didn't even have time to turn before the noise was followed by the sound of Finn rolling off of his bed and crashing to the hard floor. The sight I saw when I turned, it's enough to scar anyone for life, it has me for sure. Finn's mouth was covered in blood which ran down his chin down over his t-shirt. He was trying to get up but I saw him collapse onto the floor, body shaking. I didn't believe what I was seeing. Things like this didn't happen in real life. I must be dreaming. I willed myself to wake up. He was cradled in my arms when he coughed for a second time and a pool of blood gushed out of his mouth again splashing all over him, me and the carpet. It wasn't even like 'normal' blood. It was lumpy and almost black in colour and it clung over my clothes, my face, even my hair. By this time I think he was barely conscious because I was trying to support his full weight in my arms to stop him falling back and drowning in his own blood.

The blood didn't stop. It just kept coming and coming. We were pretty much covered head to toe in the stuff and I didn't know what to do.

And I screamed. I wasn't aware I was doing it at the time but my I screamed over and over, my wails echoing off the walls.

I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do to stop the blood. Nothing.

**Ahh sorry the the long chapter, i just couldnt stop! How it is so far? Let me know :)**


	4. Carrie

_**Authors note:- Sorry for the delay guys! Ive had so many exams and had no time to write anything. This was a bit rushed so sorry if its a bit rubbish!**_

I heard the sound of feet storming up the stairs. It must have been Puck, Blaine and Rachel. Yes, it was because I remember hearing another scream, this time not my own and far too high pitched to be Puck's or Blaine's. Then there was the sound of a mug of coffee dropping on the floor, its contents sloshing over the cream carpet. For some reason, that one detail sticks in my mind. After that it is all a blur again. Finn had gone limp in my arms now and I don't know how long I laid there on the floor cradling him like he was a new born baby but sirens screeched far off in the distance and Finn was ripped from my arms into the hands of the paramedics. I must have somehow made in down the stairs and into the ambulance in a state of complete shock because the next thing I knew we went crashing through a door and into a room with bright florescent lights. Doctors rushed to surround Finn and I was dragged out of the way. As a nurse hauled me away from my blood soaked brother, I vaguely overheard one of the doctor's whisper to another, "Not another one" and when I turned to ask this man what he meant, our eyes locked. It couldn't have been more than a second before he broke contact, but I saw it. That look in his eyes said one thing. There was no hope.

People in the waiting room cautiously moved away from me when I entered. Some wore faces of fear, others disgust, some even stood up and moved to a seat on the other side of the room so they were away from me. I had no idea why this was until I heard my friends come crashing through the door,

"Kurt, baby!" Blaine bellowed in my direction, "Oh Kurt, what's going on? We've been looking for you for ages!"

He took me up in his arms and clasped me against his chest. I must have been crying or something because next thing I knew he wiping at my face and whispering in my ear, "Its ok baby, I'm here now. Don't cry". His soothing words did nothing to comfort me but he was soft and warm, and my body was so cold and numb with shock I buried myself further into his body.

Rachel tentatively sat down next to me, with red rimmed eyes and Puck just paced the room. I guess he gets angry when he is scared or worried because the poor people in the waiting room got a mouthful of foul language and threats and shrunk even further into the other side of the room. The silence in the room after this was deafening. It was Rachel who eventually broke it when she cleared her throat and croaked to me, "We…we brought you something to change into, Kurt. I…I mean you can't wear that" She indicated my clothes and held out a bag. Was she serious? My brother was lying there, hacking up his insides, and she had taken the time to go through my room, find some of my clothes, and pack them nicely in a bag. I incredulously looked at her, the daggers shining through and she fell silent once again.

"She's right Hummel, man." Puck suddenly said, "No offence but you look like that chick Carrie from that film that's just come out. Doesn't look good on you."

I looked up at Blaine, his eyes confirming Puck's words.

"That bad?" I muttered, my voice almost gone from all the screaming I had done that night.

"Yeah…yeah it's not good baby. Here I'll help you get cleaned up…" he started to pull me up, but I interrupted,

"No. No its fine I can do it Blaine" I snapped back at him. I don't know why he made me angry, but looking back, I guess I just didn't want to lose my dignity as well. I couldn't let my boyfriend strip me down and wash me. Although at other times I probably would have welcomed him to do it anytime, if you get what I mean, but not then after everything that had happened.

With that I staggered to the toilet in the waiting room. The mirror was in front of me, but I couldn't bring myself to look in it. God, everyone in that waiting room was avoiding me and even my own friends looked at me with disgust. I gripped the edges of the sink, took a deep breath, and then counted to three. 1…2…3, I looked up. I wish I hadn't.

Finns blood coated my whole body; my white shirt was pretty much a dark red-brown colour now. The blood had started to dry, leaving a crusty and sickening texture. It was all over my face. My forehead, my cheeks, my nose, even my ears had blood on them. I could even make out a faded hand print on my neck where Finn must have grabbed it in desperation. The worst part though, was my hair. It was like I had just stepped out of the shower, instead it wasn't flat and limp with water, it was blood. Running my fingers through it, I felt clumps of blood and bile that Finn had coughed up and which had gotten stuck in my hair. This was the final straw for me and bile rose in my throat. Next thing I knew I was clinging to the toilet seat for dear life, heaving up the entire contents of my stomach. Now I understood why no one would come near me.

Blaine was outside the door straight away.

"Kurt!" He screeched, "Kurt, open the door! Please!" The panic was evident in his voice. Sickness is how Finn started. Maybe he was worried that any moment I was going to expel my entire bloodstream over the bathroom floor.

I let him in anyway. I think he worried voice did it for me. I collapsed on the floor in a heap and sobbed. He scooped me up against his chest and rocked me back and forth. I could hardly breathe as my sobs were choking me. Blaine rubbed my back. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. He was there and that's all I needed.

...


	5. 5 Stages

_**Authors Note :- Really know where this is going now! I hope you like it because i feel like its rubbish and no one likes it, please let me know whether i should carry it on or not because i'm not sure if i should. I have loads of great ideas so i dont want to. **_

I didn't try to resist when Blaine started to undress me, all the fight had gone from me. It took quite a while to scrub the blood from my face and rinse it from my hair. My face hurt by the time Blaine was finished and it was stiff from the cheap hospital soap in which he had used. Rachel had picked up a plain black hoodie and a pair of old, scruffy jeans when she rummaged through my room earlier for a change of clothes. Normally I would have refused to wear such a disastrous outfit, but at that time couldn't care a less if I was wearing the latest high fashion outfit or a trash bag. That was the first time, and certainly not the last, that I committed fashion suicide.

It seemed like a lifetime we sat in the waiting room. The smell of coffee and stale biscuits was overwhelming and I found myself holding my breath. One by one doctors came in and called unrecognisable names, and one by one the relatives in the waiting room left until it was only us and elderly women who slept in the corner. Do you know that feeling, when you're too awake to sleep, but too tired to stay awake? That how I felt at the time and I was only knocked out of this state of oblivion when I heard the sound of a tired voice murmur, "Family of Finn Hudson?" Looking up I saw a weary looking man. He wasn't too old, maybe in his late 40's or early 50's, but the years of stress had taken a toll on him and wrinkles and stress lines were evident in his face. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily, when the 4 of us jumped from our seats in his direction.

"I'm his brother!" I splattered to him, "Is he dead? Please tell me he's not dead…"

"No. Please, calm down. He's not dead Mr…?" the Doctor questioned.

"Kurt. Kurt Hummel." I answered politely, the man looked stressed enough and I knew that rudeness would only agitate him further.

"I'm Doctor Fletcher; your brother was put into my care when he was first brought in. I afraid I'm unable to speak of his condition to anyone outside of Mr Hudson's family…" he indicated to Rachel, Blaine and Puck, "So if you would follow me I'll take you to a place that's more private."

I went to follow but was stopped by the sound of Rachel behind me, "Excuse me, sir. But I'm Finn's girlfriend, and I'm as good as family to. Would it be ok if I came along to…" she started.

"I'm sorry, but I simply cannot discuss a patient's condition to anyone but his immediate family. Rules are rules I'm afraid." Doctor Fletcher breathed in reply.

Rachel was about to protest when I interrupted her, "Look, I'll go with Doctor Fletcher and as soon as I find out about Finn I'll come and fill you all in. Ok?"

She reluctantly nodded. Puck gave me a look which said 'I've got your back Hummel' and Blaine nodded back at me, the care showing through in his eyes.

Doctor Fletcher led me to a small office up a flight of stairs and instructed me to take a seat. The office was a mess. Paperwork was everywhere, at least 3 old cups of coffee lay forgotten on the desk and from the pacing of Doctor Fletcher; I could tell that he'd been under more stress than ever before recently.

"Look Mr Hummel, I'm just going to be straight with you, no messing around and the avoiding the seriousness of the situation. Your brother is suffering from a new virus…"

"The one of the news?" I chipped in,

"Yes, that's the one. We are unclear of the cause but hundreds of patients are coming through our doors suffering from it. There is more and more with everyday which passes. We have yet to find a cure for the virus or any sort of treatment to delay its production…"

"So what about Finn then? You can't cure him?" I was starting to panic, this was bad.

"I'm sorry to say, but no. Those responsible for finding a cure are working as hard as they possibly can but they are yet to have any breakthrough. The virus is simply developing too fast."

My face fell into my hands, "What's going to happen then? Is he just going to get worse and worse until…" I gulped, I couldn't say it but he knew what I meant.

"From previous cases we been able to divide the virus into 5 stages of development. The first of these is the simple flu like symptoms; a runny nose, the sickness, you know what I mean. Next comes the expulsion of blood from the body. This is the stage your brother is currently at. After this is the third stage, in which the individual suffers from severe muscle cramps and pain, following onto the fourth stage where the person's organs start to rupture and they suffer from extensive internal bleeding. Stage 5, Mr Hummel, is death. I am so sorry, but to put it bluntly, yes. Your brother is going to die."

Finn was going to die. My brother was going to die. He was dying right at that moment.

"Doctor…Doctor Fletcher, how long does he have?" I stuttered to him,

"I couldn't give an accurate time. All I know is the development from the third stage to the fifth stage is very rapid. Once your brother starts to show symptoms of the third stage, I would say he has up to roughly 12 hours to live. It varies between people." I could hear the remorse in his voice. By tomorrow my brother would be gone forever, but I was too numb by this point to have any tears or feel anything at all.

"Can I see him?"

"Of course you can Mr Hummel. Like I said though, there are simply too many patients who are suffering from this virus. We've had to move them to a separate ward because it's so contagious. Your brother was lucky though, he was able to get a room to himself. The gentlemen in there before him passed just as we were bringing him up. Soon the hallways will be filled with the sick and there will be nowhere to put them."

It's unbelievable to think that a small virus could cause such destruction. When Doctor Fletcher took me up to the isolated ward, I couldn't breathe. The smell of blood overpowered everything else and the sounds of screams and cries echoed off the walls. Finn's room was on the other side of the hospital, luckily in the section which was quieter than others. Maybe everyone there was already dead.

Doctor Fletcher stopped outside the door, turning to me, "We've started Mr Hudson on morphine. The muscle cramps are extremely painful and the only thing we can do is make sure that the patients die peacefully."

"Thank you, Doctor." I croaked, "Thank you for trying."

He nodded to me, with sorrow in his face, and walked away.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. What I saw is the next thing on my list of things I will never in my life forget. He looked like he was already dead. His skin was sickly pale, well the skin that I could see anyway. The blood he had brought up hadn't been washed away and he was still coated in the lumpy substance. The only thing which reassured me that he wasn't dead already was the slow rise and fall of this chest. If it wasn't for this, anyone would have thought he had passed a long time ago.

I pulled a chair to beside him bed and clasped his hand in my own. He wasn't going to die alone; I was going to be there every step of the way.

_**Please Review!**_


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